sights: must-do's

by Jay , San Diego, Friday, May 18, 2018, 12:20 (2458 days ago) @ Jay
edited by Jay, Friday, May 18, 2018, 12:24

There have already been a ton of great recommendations and I would echo all of them. This is my list of must-do things in a 5-day trip.

General tip: don't try to do too much in one day. Leave a lot of breathing room for just walking around and exploring and sitting in parks and cafes. You are going to find out that the best thing about the city is sipping a coffee or glass of wine in a corner cafe watching the city roll by. It's delightful.

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* Ile de la Cité walk, which includes Notre Dame & Sainte-Chapelle and environs. You could design your own walk, use Steves' "Historic Paris" (which includes a map and a free audio podcast) https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours/paris, or take a guided tour.

(For guided tours I highly recommend Paris Walks; definitely do at least 1 of them. Here is their summer 2018 schedule: http://www.paris-walks.com/summer-walks_m.html )

* Montmartre walk, which includes the village and Sacre Coeur. Again, self- or guided-tour would be an option here. This is hillier than the other walks in Paris.

* Le Marais walk, which includes some vintage Hôtels, the old Jewish quarter, fantastic medieval architecture, and the Place des Voges, which might be the most perfect city square in the world.

* Eiffel Tower and Arc d'Triumph, and then down the Champs-Élysées (or vice versa). Go up if you want, but definitely walk the Champ de Mars and spend time just gazing in wonder at the world's most iconic structure. I would skip going up the Arc.

* Pick one of the Louvre or Musee d'Orsay. I would lean towards d'Orsay -- the building is really neat, it is more digestible in a single visit and contains a ton of impressionism which I love. However, the Louvre is the Louvre. Late night Louvre as others mentioned is a great option if it fits in your schedule but make sure the hours are the same in August. Of course, if you guys are museum people then you must do both of these.

* Boat tour at night after dinner, specifically Bateaux Vedettes off of Pont Neuf. You shouldn't need an advance ticket. Bring a bottle of wine and get a seat on the roof. You can do this during the daytime too if you want, but seeing everything lit up at night is amazing. http://www.vedettesdupontneuf.com/home/

* Picnic lunch in a park. Be sure that at least one day (or maybe every day) to put together a picnic from a market and have a nice leisurely meal while you take a break between walks. There are lots of markets and boulangeries where you can get quick and easy stuff to go: baguettes, cheese, a little charcuterie, some fruit, maybe some cookies, and a little wine. Our favorite park is the Luxembourg Gardens, which is sprawling and has lots of different areas. You could hit the Grande Epicerie de Paris, which is a huge food market in the Bon Marche department store, get your provisions, do a walk around Saint-Germain des Pres and end up in the Luxembourg Gardens. That would be a lovely half-day.

Other favorite parks include the Tuileries and Parc Monceau, but there are dozens of them big and small.

* Splurge on a good evening meal at least once. See the previous restaurant thread for some ideas, but also let me know what you're looking for. I just booked a dinner for us, my mom, and my sister's family at Grand Coeur, which I heard about through a friend. It looks great. There are so many good options.

* Before or after dinner (preferably before), go get a drink on the roof of one of the department stores, Galerie Lafayette, Printemps Hausmann, and Samaritaine all have little cafes on their roofs with amazing views to all directions. I had written about the Printemps in my other post, and I just found out they renovated that and upgraded the food options, so we are looking forward to checking it out in July. This is an easy thing to do on the way to dinner but I think it is a must-do simply because of the unbelievable views.

* On Day 5, if you want to get out of town, a day trip to Versailles is definitely doable, but it's worth most of a day. I think I mentioned this in a previous thread, but you can rent an electric cart to tool around the Versailles gardens (which stretch for literally miles). It is a really fun way to explore and worth the splurge. It might be a perfect thing for your mom, too.

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